Fried foods commonly designates foods which are fried, typically deep-fried in oil, and includes food which is battered and fried, such as croquettes (a small cake of minced food, such as poultry, fish, mushroom, fruit or vegetables including potatoes, or cereals that is usually coated with bread crumbs or a layer of wheat flour and fried in deep fat), battered and fried vegetables, fish or meat like poultry, as well as food which is produced by kneading dough ingredients such as wheat flour, shaping the dough composition, and frying the shaped dough composition. Examples of the latter food include doughnuts, fried bread, fried noodles, and the like. Fried foods are widely consumed in many countries but considered unhealthy due to their high fat content. Therefore, much effort is spent by the skilled artisans to reduce the fat content of fried foods.
Cellulose ethers are known for their ability to reduce oil uptake of fried foods. European Patent Application EP 2 253 217 relates to a dough composition which comprises at least an aqueous solution of a water-soluble cellulose ether which is gelable during heating, and cereal crop powder. The water-soluble cellulose ether is methylcellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, hydroxyethyl methylcellulose or hydroxyethyl ethylcellulose. When deep-frying dough prepared from such composition, the oil uptake of the dough is reduced, as compared to dough that does not comprise a water-soluble cellulose ether.
The International Patent Application WO 2010/135272 teaches a further improvement of the use of cellulose ethers for reducing oil uptake of fried foods. WO 2010/135272 discloses a dry batter mix which comprises flour, at least one seasoning, optionally a leavening agent, and granulated or agglomerated methylcellulose or hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. Carboxymethyl cellulose serves as a binder for agglomerating the methylcellulose or hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. A batter is produced by the addition of water. The batter is contacted with food to prepare battered food and the battered food is fried. Battered and fried food wherein the batter comprises agglomerated methylcellulose exhibits about 10% less oil uptake than comparable battered and fried food wherein the batter comprises non-agglomerated methylcellulose.
In view of the known huge health risks caused by over-consumption of oils and fats, there is a long-felt need to find further methods of reducing the oil uptake of fried foods. One object of the present invention is to find a method which does not require a step of agglomerating methylcellulose or hydroxypropyl methylcellulose with carboxymethyl cellulose. A preferred object of the present invention is to find a method which even further reduces the oil uptake of fried foods than the methods disclosed in the prior art.
Surprisingly, it has been found that the oil uptake of fried foods can be substantially reduced if the foods to be fried are battered with a composition comprising cellulose ether particles of specific physical properties or if cellulose ether particles of specific physical properties are directly incorporated into food compositions, such as croquettes, to be fried.